Paper folding machines are well known in the paper handling industry. In general, paper folding machines have the capability of performing folding operations on lengths of continuous sheets or multiple separate sheets of paper that are continuously fed into the paper folding machine.
In the operation of certain types of paper folding machines, an operator loads a desired quantity of paper sheets onto a sheet feeder table. The loaded sheets of paper are loaded onto a feed path and directed into a paper folding region of a paper folding machine. The leading edge of the paper sheets are drawn into the paper folding region that is located downstream from the sheet feeder region.
For reasons of efficiency of time and labor, it is common to load a stack of individual sheets of paper to be folded onto the paper folding machine. The stacks of paper generally include a very large number of sheets of paper compared to the number of sheets that is possible for the sheet feeder to process simultaneously. As such, the stack of paper must be spread or fanned out along a feed path such that the number of sheets presented to the sheet feeder at any given time is less than the number of sheets in the loaded stack. The fanning operation takes the number of sheets in the original load stack and distributes them over a broader area, thereby forming leading and trailing edges of the stack. These edges comprise less sheets per unit area than the original stack and thus reduces the number of sheets presented to the sheet feeder for simultaneous processing.
Many types of paper are provided with polymer coatings to protect the paper or to enhance the appearance of the paper, and such types of paper have enjoyed widespread commercial success. The use of coated paper stock, however, increases the weight of the stacks of paper that need to be loaded onto the paper folding machine for the paper folding operation. The repetitive operation of loading stacks of heavy coated paper stock onto the paper folding machine by the operator of the paper folding machine creates great physical stress on the human body, especially on the arms, wrists and back. Thus, while fanning the sheets of a stack is a required process step in the course of operation of certain paper folding machines, fanning is a repetitive and labor intensive task.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide means to assist the paper folding machine operator with loading large stacks of paper onto a continuous paper feeder for a paper folding machine.